Overflow crowd turns out to hear history of Camp Myles Standish

The Old Colony Historical Society was filled to capacity as more than 100 people crowded in to hear Dr. William Hanna’s presentation about prisoners of war at Camp Myles Standish.

By Christopher Nichols

The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA

By Christopher Nichols

Posted Mar. 17, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 17, 2012 at 5:03 PM

By Christopher Nichols

Posted Mar. 17, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 17, 2012 at 5:03 PM

Taunton

» Social News

The Old Colony Historical Society was filled to capacity as more than 100 people crowded in to hear Dr. William Hanna’s presentation about prisoners of war at Camp Myles Standish.

Set to begin at 7 p.m., the talk was so crowded that staff at the OCHS had to start turning people away as early as 6:45 p.m., and they turned away as many as 30 to 40 people. Because of the popularity of the talk, staff at the OCHS said they may try to have Hanna give his talk again in the future.

“As I look out at all of you, I think to myself, ‘This better be good,’” joked Hanna as he began his talk.

His presentation, called “The Prisoner of War Experience at Camp Myles Standish,” discussed the experiences of people who came to Taunton from 4,000 to 5,000 miles away.

Camp Myles Standish

Camp Myles Standish opened in the fall of 1942, and initially served as a staging area for soldiers shipping out of the Boston and New York ports of embarkation.

During World War II, the United States had ten such ports, six of them on the Atlantic. Behind New York and San Francisco, Boston was the third-busiest port of embarkation in the United States during World War II, and Camp Myles Standish was one of six staging areas for Boston.

“Every port of embarkation, including Boston, had what they called a staging area,” explained Hanna. “A staging area was always an army base, and it was a place where soldiers gathered right before they were sent out.”

At a staging area, soldiers would undergo medical examinations, vaccinations, dentist visits and were subject to moral/anti-German propaganda films.

At Camp Myles Standish, they even undertook lifeboat drills on Watson’s Pond.

“They built a fake ship, and taught these guys how to jump over the side. That must have been something,” said Hanna.

At its height, the 1,620-acre camp contained 35 miles of paved roads, 10 miles of railroad tracks, almost 1,500 structures — including more than 600 barracks — 500 to 700 civilian workers and 39,000 soldiers at any given time.

“When that camp was at full strength, there were 39,000 guys in that camp. The population of Taunton was 43,000,” said Hanna.

In total, about 1,500,000 soldiers passed through the “top secret” Camp Myles Standish, most only staying for three to five days.

“It was top secret. Nobody knew about it,” said Hanna. “The worst-kept secret in the world.”

Italian co-belligerents

During World War II, 51,000 Italian soldiers were brought to the United States, most of whom were captured in North Africa.

“When they arrived in the United States, they were prisoners of war,” said Hanna.

However, Italy surrendered in 1943, and Italian soldiers were then considered “co-belligerents” — not prisoners of war but not entirely free either.

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On March 29, 1944, 500 Italian soldiers arrived at Camp Myles Standish, and despite popular belief, they did not have the run of the camp, according to Hanna. The Italians needed passes to leave camp, and they had G.I. escorts when outside of Myles Standish.

“These people, these Italians, were not well-received by this community or in any community,” said Hanna. “They were well-received by Italian-Americans.”

While still subject to military rule at the camp, many Italians did find friends among the local Italian-American population — who may have helped the Italians take advantage of the relaxed security.

“These Italians had the idea, sometimes correctly, that the security wasn’t the best,” said Hanna.

He read one letter from an Italian soldier at Camp Myles Standish that described how he would often “skip” camp and change into civilian clothes in a friend’s car. Another soldier described how he would sneak out from camp under the fence.

The practice was so common, in fact, that Hanna said Taunton buses at the time would make a stop at the camp’s main gate, and then at two different holes in the fence.

At the end of the war, all the Italian soldiers were sent back to Italy, in accordance with the Geneva Convention. However, some local women followed the Italian soldiers to Italy, got married in Italy and then returned to the United States.

Hanna said this likely happened to several hundred Italian soldiers at Camp Myles Standish.

German POWs

While the Italians were co-belligerents, the Germans — who first arrived at Camp Myles Standish in 1945 — were considered prisoners of war, and they were treated as such. The Germans were under guard 24 hours per day, were separated in camp from all the other troops, were subject to frequent inspection, and had to march back and forth from meals.

However, they were never mistreated, according to Hanna.

“We brought the Germans here, and we treated them very, very well. We went above and beyond the Geneva Convention,” said Hanna. “...We were very concerned that the Germans had no excuse to go after our POWs over there.”

Aside from 35 Germans that worked in the Weir — because labor was so hard to come by at that time — most Germans did not leave Camp Myles Standish.

Hanna said he spoke to a German soldier in 1993 who had stayed at Camp Myles Standish as a prisoner.

“He had no idea that there was a city of 43,000 within sight of him. No idea,” said Hanna.

While at camp, Germans were made to wear dark blue denim pants and a dark blue denim jacket with white “PW” on the back, and they were under close watch.

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“No Germans went out under the wire and put a coat on in his friend’s car. That just didn’t happen,” said Hanna.

Myles Standish after the war

Beginning in 1945, the German and Italian soldiers were sent back to their respective countries. The civilians at Camp Myles Standish were all laid off one day, and gradually the army left.

The camp was officially decommissioned on Jan. 11, 1946.

After World War II, some Tauntonians tried with great effort to make Camp Myles Standish the site of the newly opening United Nations building, according to Hanna, but New York City was ultimately chosen.